Conor McGregor loves a cryptic tweet – but has he revealed the date of his UFC return?
Ireland’s former two-weight UFC champion has not set foot in the octagon since his defeat by Khabib Nurmagomedov last October, and he announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in March.
But anticipation of a comeback has been rife in recent weeks since an interview with ESPN in August in which he said he “would look for” a fight for the “end of the year”.
Now, however, it seems the 31-year-old is preparing to hold his comeback a little closer to home.
“Dublin, December 14th,” he wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Dublin, December 14th.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 16, 2019
Since his fight with Nurmagomedov, McGregor has faced issues away from the octagon, getting involved in an altercation in a Dublin pub in April in which he appeared to punch a man in the head.
That incident took place a month after McGregor was arrested for allegedly smashing a fan’s phone in Miami, USA, but Florida prosecutors dropped all charges against the Irishman, who had already settled a civil lawsuit out of court.
A UFC fight has not been held in Ireland since 2015 but this would mark McGregor’s first on home soil.
To save you a job, BBC Sport has done the hard work and looked up the venues’ availabilities on 14 December. The Aviva Stadium is already booked up with a rugby Champions Cup fixture, but Croke Park and the 3Arena look free.
In 2016, UFC vice-president James Elliott said a fight in Dublin was “on the agenda” – so has that time finally arrived?
“Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium are two places that we’ve looked at, and we’ve made no secret about that,” he said.
“Conor has certainly made no secret about the fact he wants to fight in Dublin. It’s something that’s on the agenda.”
